Monday, August 18, 2008

Article - WSJ.com: Chinese Software Firm Challenges Microsoft

Apparently China is only interested in locally-sponsored software monopolists. BTW the file format -- UOF -- is a spin-off from ODF (naturally...).

Most often, Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) biggest rivals in the Chinese market have been black-market versions of its own products.

That could change for the company's Office software suite, a key product that includes its word processing and spreadsheet tools. Wuxi, China-based Evermore Software is expected to release its latest Office competitor in late August. And while EIOffice 2009 is based on a file format standard promoted by the Chinese government and costs a fraction of Microsoft's offering, it also comes with a new legal threat.

Evermore Chief Executive Gus Tsao said he's prepared to pursue Microsoft under a new anti-monopoly law that took effect in China on Friday. The law is widely expected to be used to curtail the dominance of foreign companies doing business there, such as Microsoft.